Unethical publishing practices

Predatory publishers exhibit unethical practices such as inviting researchers to publish with them but provide minimal or no editing, restricting author's rights, and often charging fees.

ThinkCheckSubmit website suggests steps to take and consider before selection of a publication source to verify the credentials of publishers: checking with colleagues, reviewing editorial boards, indexing of journals, fees and peer review practices, ability to contact publishers.

COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) promotes integrity in publishing, with discussion, advice and guidelines on topics such as author misconduct (being unaware of articles submitted in their name), misuse of data.

Jeffrey Beall's list of predatory open access publishers was issued annually since 2011 until January 17, 2017. Beall's List criteria for identifying possible and potential predatory publishers included limited geographic diversity in editorial board membership and authors, gender bias, false impact factor claims. The list became controversial and is no longer at its original location. The list information as at January 31, 2017 is available as a static website but is no longer updated.